Iran will respond to US-Israeli strikes as existential threats to the regime – because they are

The latest attack on Iran goes far beyond previous operations by Israel and the US in both scale and scope. Tehran will likely lean on unconventional warfare as well as its missile stockpile.

By: Javed Ali, University of Michigan, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 28, 2026

Words: 1,613

Last Updated: 6 days, 14 hours ago

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By Javed Ali, University of Michigan

After U.S. and Israeli missiles struck Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025, Tehran responded with a limited attack on the American airbase in Qatar. Five years before that, a U.S. drone strike against Qasem Soleimani, head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, was followed by an attack on two American bases in Iraq shortly thereafter.

Expect none of that restraint by Iran’s leaders following the …

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